A button that acts as a left mouse click

[ryan850]

First a quick background. I'm new to electronics. Currently halfway through the Make:Electronics book.

I've been asked to setup PCs that display a power point presentation at work. The PCs will be hidden above a drop ceiling, and flat screen monitors mounted on the wall. The slideshow will auto advance each slide after 15-60 seconds, but they would like to have a button that can be pressed to advance the slides manually as well.

So my question, does anyone know how to make a button that would act as a left mouse click and that's it. It would need to be USB. With my limited knowledge, I was going to just take apart a mouse, and somehow mount the button near the monitor. I would like to do something a bit more professional than that though.

Any advice? or know where I can find schematics on how to make your own mouse that I could use as a reference?

Your help is greatly appreciated.

 

[(*steve*)]

There are a wide variety of remote controls used for powerpoint.

My understanding is that they mimic the mouse, providing mouse button presses that permit the slides to be moved forward or backward.

Regardless of how they work, the solution is fast, cheap, and reliable.

Just google "wireless powerpoint controller".

 

[florinanghel]

The cheapest solution would be indeed to use the circuit from a mouse/keyboard. But getting a Bluetooth remote is a better choice, as you would have more options (forwards, backwards etc.) and you could also use it for other things like multimedia playback.